Top: John Traverse County’s first ditch Mathias’ farm retrofit eases flood damage borders Traverse County Ditch as it improves water quality 37, Lateral 1. A within the Bois de Sioux Clean Water Fund grant helped pay Watershed District for elements of a ditch retrofit with clean water benefits. Mathias said the fix ‘It will demonstrate alleviated flooding in his field.Left: None of the road crossings changed. “We increased what we’re capable of’ the capacity of the ditch itself to WHEATON — The Bois de Sioux The retrofit on Lateral 1 of Traverse hold more water, Watershed District’s first ditch retrofit County Ditch 37 benefits water quality and we stabilized could be the first of many retrofits as well as cropland. the banks so we wouldn’t have designed to alleviate flooding and Scott Gillespie sees it as a showpiece. ... dirt going improve water quality. downstream,” said “It’s huge. It will demonstrate what Scott Gillespie of The watershed spans 1,400 square we’re capable of and what the other the Bois de Sioux miles in parts of six west-central Watershed District ditches can be,” Gillespie, a farmer Minnesota counties. The district serves board. and Bois de Sioux board member, said as the ditch authority for 420 miles of Photo Credits: during a late September site visit. Ann Wessel, ditches in Traverse County plus parts BWSR of Wilkin and Grant counties. John Mathias sees it as a solution. Lateral 1 borders Mathias’ 320-acre Dollymount Township field, where he said past flooding had cost him about $50,000 a year. “I would lose from a third to half of my crop,” Mathias said, describing the damage caused by 2 feet of standing water during the growing season. “Last fall was extremely wet, and it really did a great job. We had 11 inches at harvest time. It was really devastating, but the ditch kept up. It wasn’t overflowing. It did a great job.” The work on 2.5-mile-long Lateral 1 is part of a $637,600 retrofit and repair on 7-mile- Top: The Mustinka River flows north long Traverse County Ditch of Wheaton in Traverse County. 37. Water from Traverse County Ditch 37 flows into Twelvemile Creek, A $135,000 Clean Water Fund the Mustinka and Lake Traverse — grant from the Minnesota headwaters of the Bois de Sioux River. Board of Water and Soil Left:Engineer Chad Engels, left, and Resources helped pay for Assistant Engineer Jim Guler stand on clean-water aspects of the a buffer installed in conjunction with Lateral 1 retrofit, which reins a Traverse County Ditch 37 retrofit in sediment loss. (Traverse in the Bois de Sioux Watershed Soil & Water Conservation District. The buffer was separate from work done through a Clean District received $10,000 Water Fund grant. The district used of the grant for project ditch assessment proceeds to pay development.) The 30-plus landowners for permanent right-of- landowners whose 4,860 way easements, installing buffers on acres of cropland benefit both sides of Traverse County Ditch from the entire Traverse 37. County Ditch 37 project will after field would flood during Traverse — headwaters of the pay $512,600 in taxes levied berm adjacent to the ditch. by the watershed district over Side inlet culverts were then the spring snowmelt when Bois de Sioux River. The Bois 15 years. A redetermination installed through that berm north-flowing water overran de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers of benefits increased from to allow water to drain from tree-shaded, ice-filled join to become the Red River $18,990 to $2.86 million adjacent fields into the ditch. ditches. at Breckenridge. The design results in less the maximum amount the Agricultural production Built by horse-drawn watershed district could levy ditch-bank erosion and keeps more topsoil in the field. accounts for about 93 equipment in 1902, Traverse to pay for repairs. percent of land use in the County Ditch 37 had Contractors finished the “By installing the culvert, you watershed, which lies in received only minor repairs. project in 2017. are armoring that side slope,” the flat bed of Glacial Lake Before this project, the only Engels said. “The side-inlet Agassiz. Here, volume — not maintenance since 1988 Chad Engels of Moore culvert meters the flow. So peak flow — drives flooding consisted of silt and cattail Engineering in Fergus Falls when we have a large rain as snowmelt and north- removal. Cottonwood trees described the retrofit: event that results in high flowing rivers send water into exceeding 3 feet in diameter runoff, the culvert will meter iced-up regions. grew in the channel. Contractors flattened the the flow and allow silt that’s channel’s side slopes to being carried in the runoff to From Traverse County “The project was really create more stability. Material settle out in the field.” Ditch 37, water flows into twofold,” Engels said. excavated from the channel Twelvemile Creek, the “There was a hydraulic was used to construct a Previously, Mathias said field Mustinka River and Lake component to restore the original capacity and there was a water-quality component with the retrofit.” This is where the The watershed district used “Clean Water Fund ditch assessment proceeds money is the best to pay landowners for permanent right-of-way money spent. It is easements, installing buffers right on the ground. along It directly goes into both sides of cleaning water. It Traverse directly keeps phos- County Ditch phates and nitrate out 37. Easements allow the Scott Gillespie, a Bois de Sioux Watershed District board member, stood near of the water. I don’t the bottom of Traverse County Ditch 37’s Lateral 1, where a Clean Water watershed district access for know where you maintenance work. Fund grant covered clean-water aspects of the district’s first ditch retrofit. could spend money “Over time, someday all of of sediment — about 26 pressure off of other ditches the landowners in the Bois de dump trucks’ worth — out as well and it’s improved the better than that. Sioux Watershed District will of the ditch and downstream drainage and the timeliness of be compensated for these waters. the water getting off the fields buffers. That’s my goal. As and going down the ditches — Scott Gillespie, we do the redetermination “We aren’t adding to properly.” Bois de Sioux Watershed of benefits, that will naturally flooding. We are cleaning District board member the water because we’re The watershed district is part- ” happen. We’re going to put in these easements and they’re keeping the dirt out of nering with the Wilkin Soil & from discussions that the going to be paid for the the ditch. We’re providing Watershed Conservation District easements,” Engels said. better drainage for the on a related project under con- board has had that this is farmer. Buffer strips are struction this year. The SWCD a long-term strategy. Over Less in-channel erosion will getting installed but it is not received a $176,500 Clean Wa- time, they intend to retrofit mean less maintenance and controversial. So the water ter Fund multipurpose drainage all the ditches in the Bois de less cost to landowners. Ditch is winning. The landowner is management grant to install Sioux,” Engels said. clean-outs average about winning,” Gillespie said. side-inlet culverts and berms on $6,750 a mile and were Wilkin County Ditch 8. The Minnesota Board of necessary every five to seven Mathias, 68, who farms about Water and Soil Resources’ years. 3,500 acres, said he’d been If funding is approved, the mission is to improve working for 30 years to get watershed district will begin The way Gillespie sees and protect Minnesota’s the ditch fixed. retrofits on Wilkin County water and soil resources it, everyone wins — and ditches 9 and 10 in 2019. phosphorus and nitrates “The ditch was virtually by working in partnership are kept in check by curbing inoperative,” Mathias said. “It’s the beginning of with local organizations and erosion. The retrofit will “Now that the water is going retrofitting all of the rest of private landowners. www. keep an estimated 340 tons the correct direction, it’s taken the ditches. I’m convinced bwsr.state.mn.us.

Left:Gently sloped sides are one element of a Traverse County Ditch 37 retrofit. The retrofit will help alleviate flooding in farm fields and improve water quality within the Bois de Sioux Watershed by allowing nutrient-carrying sediment to settle.Middle: Side-inlet culverts in the berm connect the ditch to the field. When the water level in the ditch is high, the pressure pushes a flap-gate shut. Water then remains on the field until the level in the ditch drops. Right: Check dams help to reduce the velocity within the ditch.